Table 2.
Analysis of Students’ Justifications for their Evaluations of Author Expertise
| Quality of justification | Mother’s blog | Newspaper's website | Company website | Research center's website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 3: Elaborated, relevant justification (3 points) | "She is a mother of three children, and she does not tell anything about her education" (Student 2LT) | "The author is a journalist, who is specialized in health and well-being, suggesting that he has acquainted himself with the topics that he deals with" (Student 2V5) | "The author is a CEO. He is not an expert in sugar effects or, for example, an expert in health issues" (Student 2SY) | "She is a researcher in health sciences. Thus, she has research-based knowledge about the topic. She understands the biological functions of sugar. The author has particularly focused on children's memory functions" (Student 15 M) |
|
Level 2: Relevant justification (2 points) |
"She does not have education and only relies on observations (Student 139) | "After the name of the author, it is added "health and well-being", so he might have some knowledge about the issue or at least some interest (Student 3FP) | "Because he is not an expert in health issues" (Student 175) | "She is a doctor in health sciences" (Student 1IJ) |
|
Level 1: Tangential or vague justification (1 point) |
"She does not have any research evidence. The claim is based on her own experiences" (Student 3JT) | "Author reports other person's observations, such as statements by the doctor of the children’s hospital, Market Valtasalo" (Students 3E7) | "He just wants to advertise his candy store" (Student 10G) | "The text presents factual knowledge that has been supported with references" (Student 3Z1) |
|
Level 0: Inadequate justification (0 points) |
"Because she only justified why her children go wild" (Student 2HU) | "He is a doctor who has investigated the issue" (Student 3AR) | "Author has some basic knowledge, but he presents it in an unusual way" (Student 3NS) | "Because she has clearly taken most of the text from different sources, so this is not her own knowledge about sugar and its effects" (Student 3BQ) |